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Specter of urban renewal in heart of Erie rankles some long-time residents

Trustees to discuss proposal for Historic Old Town this month

By John Aguilar Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
11/03/2013 04:00:00 PM MST

If you go

What: Historic Old Town Urban Renewal Plan community open house

When: 6 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Erie Community Center, 450 Powers St., Briggs Room

Some Erie residents sense big changes coming to their beloved Historic Old Town neighborhood over the next few years. And they don't exactly like what they see.

The Erie Board of Trustees this month will consider whether to adopt the Historic Old Town Erie Urban Renewal Plan, which would give the town a powerful tool -- up to and including eminent domain -- to push forward redevelopment and new development projects in the historic district.

The town will hold an open house on the proposed plan at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Erie Community Center.

Liz Fisher, an Old Town resident for a quarter-century, conceded that her part of Erie may not be as pristine as some of the town's newer, more manicured neighborhoods, but it's not the derelict community described in the urban renewal plan.

"It's older, but it's not blighted," she said. "I feel they are stretching the intent of the definition of blight."

The plan, drafted for the town by real estate advisory firm Ricker/Cunningham, identifies a series of blight conditions in Old Town, including deteriorating buildings, buildings without sprinklers, missing sidewalks, insufficient lighting and location in a floodplain.

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Erie police, it also states, report that Old Town generates nearly 20 percent of all calls for service, "a level considered to be disproportionately high" compared to the town as a whole.

Fisher said turning the entire downtown in an urban renewal area, which allows the Erie Urban Renewal Authority to use mechanisms like tax increment financing to fund infrastructure improvements, is not the answer to a few code violations.

"This is a very drastic solution to a limited problem," she said.

Condemnation condemned

Fisher and others also worry about the Erie Urban Renewal Authority's power to condemn and take possession of property for the purpose of redevelopment.

"The authority may acquire property by negotiation or any other method authorized by the (state's urban renewal law), including by eminent domain," the plan states. "The authority may temporarily operate, manage and maintain property acquired in the area."

Dave Johnson, an Old Town denizen for the past 27 years, said the specter of eminent domain in his neighborhood is unsettling.

"The town is getting out of hand," he said. "What is blight? Who is going to make those decisions?"

Johnson fears that the obvious targets of redevelopment will be Old Town's historic buildings -- some of which are more than a century old -- and the mobile home parks housing the town's economically disadvantaged residents.

"Because we don't have historical guidelines, we're tearing down buildings and putting up new ones, and they're out of place. They'll build townhomes and condos -- that's what I foresee," he said. "What kind of history are we going to show our kids and grandchildren when there's none left?"

Fisher further worries that tax increment financing, where additional taxes generated by future development are used to pay off bonds for street and utility construction, is not in the best financial interests of the town.

'There are no projects'

Fred Diehl, spokesman for the town, said it's premature for folks to judge what might happen under urban redevelopment when no plans have even begun to take shape.

"The truth of the matter is there are no projects," he said. "There are no projects and no plans for use of eminent domain."

While the authority would reserve condemnation as an option if need be, Diehl said, each and every project that comes before the town for approval would have to go through a public hearing first.

He pointed out that the proposed plan talks not just about redevelopment opportunities but also about enhancing the existing neighborhood by developing attractive gateways into downtown and pursuing streetscaping and landscaping projects to make the neighborhood more attractive.

Diehl cited the results of this year's citizen survey, which showed that 87 percent of residents either strongly or somewhat supported redevelopment of Historic Downtown Erie. He said the town has no interest in dismantling its historic district, recognizing its potential for drawing to Erie people seeking the charms and virtues of historic quaintness mixed with small-town character.

"The town views the urban renewal authority as an opportunity to build upon the asset that we have," he said. "It's vital to the town's identity."

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